Anthony Joseph "Joe" Perry (born September 10, 1950) is the lead guitarist, backing and occasional lead vocalist, and contributing songwriter for the American rock band Aerosmith. He was ranked 84th in Rolling Stone's list of The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time.[1] In 2001, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as part of Aerosmith, and in 2013, Perry and his songwriting partner Steven Tyler were recipients of the ASCAP Founders Award and were also inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.[2][3] In October 2014, Simon & Shuster released Rocks: My Life In and Out of Aerosmith, written by Joe Perry with David Ritz[4]

Contents

Biography1

Early life (1950–1970)1.1

Formation and initial success of Aerosmith (1970–79)1.2

Decline of Aerosmith and formation of Joe Perry Project (1979–1984)1.3

A substantial early influence on Perry's music was The Beatles. "The night The Beatles first played The Ed Sullivan Show, boy, that was something. Seeing them on TV was akin to a national holiday. Talk about an event. I never saw guys looking so cool. I had already heard some of their songs on the radio, but I wasn't prepared by how powerful and totally mesmerizing they were to watch. It changed me completely. I knew something was different in the world that night."[6]

During this time, Perry and vocalist Steven Tyler became known as the "Toxic Twins" for their notorious hard-partying and drug use. Aerosmith's crowd earned the nickname "The Blue Army", so called by the band after the seemingly endless number of teenagers in the audience wearing blue denim jackets and blue jeans. The audience was abundantly male with long hair.

Following Rocks, the group began to stumble - drug use escalated and the creative process became hampered by strained relationships within the band. This was highlighted during the recording process for their next album, which was recorded at an abandoned convent in upstate New York. During their time there, Tyler and Perry would spend much of the time in their rooms, getting high, away from the rest of the band, and would often record their parts separately. The band, hampered by heavy drug use and distracted by hobbies such as driving fast cars on the nearby parkways and shooting high-powered firearms in the building's attic, struggled to come up with material. Draw the Line, released in 1977, became a hit nonetheless, going double platinum. However, it was not as successful as their prior efforts, with the singles "Draw the Line" and "Kings and Queens" both charting in the Hot 100, but failing to crack the Top 40. On the album, Perry sang lead vocals on the track "Bright Light Fright". The band toured throughout 1977 and 1978 in support of the album, but increasing violence at concerts (such as bottles, cherry bombs, M-80s, and firecrackers being thrown on-stage, including several notorious incidents at The Spectrum in Philadelphia) as well as the band's heavy drug use began to mar the performances. In 1978, Aerosmith released the live collection Live! Bootleg, released the stand-alone single "Chip Away the Stone", and starred as "The Future Villain Band" in the film Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. For the film, the band released a cover of The Beatles' "Come Together", which would become the band's last Top 40 hit for nearly a decade.

Decline of Aerosmith and formation of Joe Perry Project (1979–1984)

In 1979, Aerosmith headlined over Van Halen, Ted Nugent, AC/DC and Foreigner during the world music festival concerts. An argument backstage in Cleveland resulted in Perry's wife throwing a glass of milk at Tom Hamilton's wife. After a heated argument between Tyler and Perry, Perry quit Aerosmith part-way through the recording of the album Night in the Ruts, with the remainder of his parts played by temporary guitarists. Perry took a collection of unrecorded material with him, which would later become the basis of his album Let the Music Do the Talking, released in 1980. The album went on to sell 250,000 copies. Equipped with a new record label (MCA Records) and three new band members in singer Mach Bell, bassist Danny Hargrove and drummer Joe Pet, The Joe Perry Project released the follow-up I've Got the Rock'n'Rolls Again (1981) and Once a Rocker, Always a Rocker (1983). These albums didn't fare as well as The Project's debut, selling only 40,000 copies apiece. Despite the poor sales, The Project went out on a final tour in support of the album, adding then ex-Aerosmith guitarist Brad Whitford to the line-up. During this tour, The Project performed in a series of co-bills with Huey Lewis and the News.[7][8][9]

Reunion of Aerosmith and return to the spotlight (1984–1999)

In February 1984, both Perry and Whitford met up with their old bandmates in Aerosmith, which led to them re-joining the band two months later. Aerosmith signed a new record deal with Geffen Records (which coincidentally was sold to MCA in 1990, absorbing the MCA label 13 years later). When Perry re-joined Aerosmith, he brought on his manager Tim Collins to manage the band. Collins would help orchestrate much of Aerosmith's success over the next decade.

Continued success of Aerosmith and solo albums (2000–present)

In 2001, Aerosmith performed at the Super Bowl XXXV half-time show and released the platinum-certified Just Push Play, which included the Top 10 single "Jaded". Shortly after the album's release, Perry was inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as part of Aerosmith. The band subsequently went on the eight-month-long Just Push Play Tour and went on to tour every following year, with the exception of 2008. The Aerosmith blues cover album Honkin' on Bobo was released in 2004. Perry released his first solo record, the self-titled Joe Perry, in May 2005. It was recorded at his home studio (The Boneyard) in suburban Boston, with every instrument but the drums played by Perry himself. Critics also responded favorably; Rolling Stone magazine crowned it with three-and-a-half (out of five) stars, declaring "A Joe Perry solo joint? about time!" He was also nominated for "Best Rock Instrumental" at the 2006 Grammys for the track "Mercy" but lost to Les Paul. In 2006, Perry performed alongside Steven Tyler for a three-song medley ("Dream On", "Walk This Way", "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing") with the Boston Pops Orchestra as part of a nationally-televised event to celebrate the Fourth of July in Boston, Massachusetts.

Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, a video game featuring the band's songs, was released in 2008. In 2009, while on tour with Aerosmith, Perry announced that he would be releasing a new Joe Perry Project album entitled Have Guitar, Will Travel, which was released on October 6, 2009. The first single from the album was "We've Got a Long Way to Go."[22] This marks the first Joe Perry Project album since 1983's Once a Rocker, Always a Rocker, and the fifth Joe Perry solo album in total, counting the 2005 self-titled album. He toured Europe and the States in late 2009 and early 2010 in support of the album.[23] After Tyler fell off a stage during an Aerosmith show in August 2009 in Sturgis, South Dakota during the band's Guitar Hero: Aerosmith Tour (causing the rest of the ill-fated tour to be canceled), tensions flared between Tyler and his bandmates, especially Perry, and it got to the point where the band members weren't speaking to each other. Media reports began to circulate that Tyler had left the band and that Perry and the other members of Aerosmith were seeking out a new singer to replace Tyler. On November 10, 2009, at a Joe Perry Project concert in New York City, Tyler made a surprise appearance, assuring the crowd he was not quitting Aerosmith and performed "Walk This Way" with the band. After Tyler completed drug rehabilitation in early 2010, he got back together with his bandmates and they announced a world tour called the Cocked, Locked, Ready to Rock Tour which took place in the spring and summer of 2010. While on tour, several on-stage incidents (including Tyler accidentally hitting Perry in the head with his mic stand and Perry bumping Tyler off the stage) as well as Tyler signing on to be a judge on American Idol without telling his bandmates caused tensions to again flare between Tyler and Perry, but cooled once again by the time the tour ended.

Perry performing with Aerosmith in April 2013.

Aerosmith then proceeded to spend much of the summer of 2011 recording their next album, their first of predominantly original material in a decade. Like Honkin' on Bobo, their next album was produced by a team that included Perry, Tyler, Jack Douglas, and Marti Frederiksen. The band toured Japan and South America in late 2011 and continued recording in early 2012. In May 2012, their new single "Legendary Child" was released and performed live on the season finale of American Idol. It was also announced that the band's new album would be titled Music from Another Dimension! and would be released in August 2012; the album's release date would later be pushed back to November 2012. Two more singles ("What Could Have Been Love and "Lover Alot") were released in advance of the album. The band supported the album with the Global Warming Tour, which lasted for much of summer and fall of 2012 and appearances on national television programs. In January 2013, the single "Can't Stop Lovin' You" (a duet with country star Carrie Underwood) was released, and in February, it was announced that Perry and his songwriting partner Steven Tyler would be recipients of the ASCAP Founders Award at the society's 30th Annual Pop Music Awards on April 17[2] and that the duo would be inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame at a ceremony to be held on June 13.[3]

In late April and early May 2013, Aerosmith extended their Global Warming Tour to Australia, New Zealand, the Philippines, and Singapore. This marked the band's first performances in Australia in 23 years,[24] and the band's first-ever performances in the latter three countries.[25][26][27] On May 30, Aerosmith performed as part of the "Boston Strong" charity concert for victims of the Boston Marathon bombings.[28] The band also performed at a handful of shows in the U.S. and Japan in July and August[29][30][31] In the fall of 2013, Aerosmith extended their tour to Central and South America, including their first-ever performances in Guatemala, El Salvador and Uruguay.[32]

From May 17 to June 28 of 2014, Perry performed 15 shows with Aerosmith on the European leg of the Global Warming Tour. This was followed by the Let Rock Rule Tour (featuring Slash with Myles Kennedy & the Conspirators as the opening act), which sent Aerosmith to 19 locations across North America from July 10 to September 12.[33][34]

On October 7, 2014, Perry released his autobiography Rocks: My Life in and Out of Aerosmith, co-written by David Ritz.[35] Perry promoted the book with a book-signing tour that took him to 14 locations across the United States in the month of October.[36]

On June 13, 2015, Perry will join Aerosmith on the Blue Army Tour, which will send the band to 17 North American locations through August 7, many of them in smaller venues in secondary markets that the band has either never performed in or hasn't performed in many years. On the tour, the band plan to play several lesser-known deep cuts.[37][38]

In 2015, Perry will be one of the narrators for the documentary film Unity.[39]

Family life

Perry was married to Elyssa Jerret from 1975 to 1982 and together they had a son, Adrian. Perry is now married to Billie Paulette Montgomery. They married in 1985 after meeting on the set of his "Black Velvet Pants" video in 1983. Billie appears on one of Perry's guitars, which is dubbed "The Billie Perry Guitar". They have two sons, Tony and Roman, while Billie has another son from a previous relationship named Aaron. Adrian and Tony Perry are founding members of the rock group Dead Boots.[40]

Currently Perry lives on Sleepy Hollow Farm in South Pomfret, Vermont where he raises Friesian horses. He also has a home he resides in occasionally in Duxbury, Massachusetts.

Solo

Chef Perry

Perry has spearheaded the creation of an entire line of hot sauces with Ashley Food Company entitled Joe Perry's Rock Your World Hot Sauces, which are featured widely in the marketplace. A quesadilla featuring a flavor of the namesake hot sauce is available as an appetizer at Hard Rock Cafe. Additionally, Perry was featured in a television episode of Inside Dish with Rachael Ray on a recent stop on Aerosmith's tour, in which he prepared a meal, displayed his passion for knives, discussed his hot sauce brand and cooking, and gave insight into what goes into meal preparation on Aerosmith tours.

Influences

He is a huge fan of the early Fleetwood Mac, particularly their first lead guitarist, Peter Green, which explains the occasional inclusion of the FM classics "Stop Messin' Round" and "Rattlesnake Shake" in Aerosmith's sets. Steven Tyler has even mentioned that hearing Perry play "Rattlesnake Shake" brought them together.

He is also a huge fan of guitarist Jeff Beck and looked at him as one of his influences. Beck played onstage with Aerosmith in 1976, as a 'birthday present' for Perry.[41]

Perry was also strongly influenced by Jimi Hendrix as evidenced in particular by some of the playing on the Joe Perry Project track song "The Mist Is Rising", and his covering the Hendrix classic "Red House" both with the Project and later with Aerosmith.

He was a huge influence on Slash, who after hearing Rocks decided to take up the guitar rather than race BMX. Slash owned Perry's old '59 Les Paul, but later returned it as a birthday present.

He is a huge fan of Led Zeppelin and Jimmy Page in particular. He and Steven Tyler had the honor of inducting Led Zeppelin into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995, and specifically stated that Aerosmith would not exist in its current form without them.

Perry performed the main theme to the Spider-Man animated series.[44] At one point in the series, Peter Parker uses the Symbiote suit to change into attire similar to that of Joe Perry's while riffs from the opening theme play in the background.

^Farber, Jim (29 September 2014). "Aerosmith from the inside: Joe Perry’s autobiography, 'Rocks,' gives long history of feuding and friction with Steven Tyler". New York Daily News. Retrieved 14 May 2015.

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